Flight attendant reveals the scary reason you shouldn’t recline your seat
A FLIGHT attendant has revealed when passengers should and shouldn’t recline their seats during plane journeys.
Everyone has different opinions about when it’s okay to put their seats back during flights, with other people’s comfort also something to take into consideration.
However, flight attendant Vin (@ichbinvin) has tried to provide some rules for reclining seats, explaining why it can be quite a dangerous thing to do.
In a video on Tiktok, he said that different factors dictated when it was and wasn’t okay to lean back.
He said: “You can do what you want, you paid for your ticket because I know people will be in the comments saying ‘I paid for my ticket, I can do whatever I want’.
“Yes, while that may be true, it doesn’t make you not an a*****e. Okay?
“Think of the question, ‘can I recline my seat?’ not as a question, but more of a balancing act of two very important things – the time of day and the length of the flight.
Vin’s rules prevent people from reclining during the day on a short flight, however early in the morning and late at night, it’s deemed to be acceptable.
Reclining is also permitted on any flight longer than three hours, according to the Tiktoker.
However, for passengers choosing to put their seat back, Vin insists they need to do it carefully, or they risk harming other passengers.
He continued: “If the stars align and you say, ‘okay, I’m going to recline my seat‘, do it gently.
“There is no need to push the button and put all of your body weight throwing back into the seat to recline your seat. There’s no need for that.
“People get all upset. They feel like you’re invading their personal space.
“One time when I was working a flight, a woman told me that she broke her nose because the person in front of her reclined her seat too quickly.”
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The video has been seen thousands of times, with other people saying they had similar experiences of being injured by reclining seats.
One said: “Thinking back to the time I got cracked in the skull while leaning forward to get something and the passenger rammed her seat back.”
Another wrote: “I’m the person who lays my head on the tray table and I always get jolted when they recline.”
A third added: “I was on an 8hr flight from Hawaii to Austin last week and the guy in front of me was in my lap the whole time. No regard for my comfort.”
Flight expert Ben Schlappig agreed with Vin’s assessment that reclining has to be done with care and consideration.
In a blog post on One Mile at a Time, he claimed that reclining a seat is a right for all passengers, regardless of who they are sitting in front of.
He said: “For me it’s quite simple. Reclining your seat, when the functionality is available, is a right. After all, the recline button is located at your seat, and not the seat behind you.”
“If you are going to recline your seat, do so slowly, and make sure the person behind you knows.
“If you’re being reclined on and it’s unbearable, politely ask the person if they wouldn’t mind putting their seat back up.”
One passenger had their laptop destroyed when the person in front reclined their seat.
A design student produced plans for double decker seating arrangements to prevent seat reclining from affecting others.